Load Board Preference?

Internet truckstop or DAT. Have way more loads then get loaded in my opinion

 

Load board freight is really depressed pretty much everywhere right now. Ohio is probably better than where I am in TN now. You can still make money but there's a lot of garbage out there to sift thru. My suggestion is to post your trucks and not even bother calling anyone. Let them come to you. Some days I get 2 or 3 calls it is so dead. If you're getting more than 15 or 20 calls be demanding a good rate for your service because I promise you no-one is going to want to pay you anything back to OH if that is how you want to roll. Your trucks may sit and sit and sit. Post up several days out from your home town there on all the free load boards CHR, Landstar, etc. If you get a call after normal business hours treat it as an open check book load and name your rate because that's exactly what it is. Good luck

 

If you are going to have just one, use member's edge (OOIDA's ~$35/month DAT loadboard -- $45 with credit check). It has the most freight, but the loadboard is straight 1995 web design and not terribly user friendly.

I also use ITS (~$35/month + $35 for credit check). It doesn't have as many loads and of the loads on it, most are also on DAT. And ITS crashes or has buggy issues frequently. But you can actually see posted rates at a glance, can have multiple searches open at once on the same page, can search for loads along a corridor, can see load/truck ratios at origin and destination at a glance, etc.


As for broker advice:

Use care when dealing with new brokers (MC numbers ~700,000 and higher)

Read contracts carefully and don't be afraid to modify (including striking through anything saying it can't be modified) before signing.

Look at load/truck ratio, inbound/outbound ratio, and freight volume before quoting a rate. I figure 2 loads/truck is a generic average (more loads is better for you), a 1:1 inbound/outbound ratio average (more outbound is better for you), and 300 loads picking up today within a 200-mile radius about average volume. Below average? expect quotes and posted rates to be less than the rate DAT gives. Above average? expect quotes and posted rates to be in line with DAT rates but you should be able to command more through negotiations.

Edit: for van hauling general freight otr...

 

it doesnt matter which load board you use they all are offering the same cheap freight.. just use landstar and ch robinson because they are free and you get paid quick using truck stop . com you usually have to wait a month to get paid depending on the company and there rates are similar ..i know because i have both.. im also from ohio and usually get the shaft coming back here